The stock opened at Rs 27 (a equilibrium price decided in pre-opening session) as against issue price of Rs 5 on BSE SME Exchange.

“The SME exchange hopes to list 10 companies in FY’12 and nearly 100 companies on its trading platform in the next 18-months,” BSE managing director and chief executive Madhu Kannan said after inaugurating BSE SME Exchange.

The exchange will provide opportunity to entrepreneurs to raise equity capital for the growth and expansion of SMEs. It will also provides immense opportunity for investors to identify and invest in good SMEs at early stage,Kannan said.

The government has been taking a number of schemes for MSMEs as they are facing the challenges of globalisation,higher cost of funds,knowledge management technology upgradation,infrastructure constraints,the Secretary,Ministry of Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),R K Mathur said.

The growth in credit to MSME sector is up by 33 per cent at Rs 4 lakh crore this fiscal. It needs a whopping Rs 4.7 lakh crore in loans and Rs 2.5 lakh crore equity,Mathur said,adding that the exchanges will provide the required platform for raising funds.

MSMEs contribute 15 per cent to GDP and we are looking at raising the contribution to 22 per cent to GDP,he said.

Small and medium enterprises have huge listing potential. So far,there have been only debt-financing options,without any access to alternate equity options.

There is a general lack of awareness among SMEs about equity capital,stock market and funding options other than banks,the BSE SME Exchange CEO,Lakshman Gugulothu said.

Capital market regulator Sebi in September granted permission to the country’s premier bourse BSE to launch its SME Exchange that will offer a platform to small and medium companies to raise funds from the primary as well as debt markets.

The market leader NSE and the privately promoted MCX Exchange are also in the process of launching the same platforms for the small and medium scale enterprises.